Oh, Christmas Sheep

Professor Mark wants more blogs, so here ya go. Incidently, you can read all about Mark, my teaching mentor from my TEFL program, at:
http://manasseworld.blogspot.com

Although there wasn't much Christmas spirit in the air, I declare my Christmas 2007 a success. It was actually nice to avoid all the frantic holiday materialism. We actually had a 4 day Muslim holiday the weekend before. This is a time when all Muslim families slaughter a sheep, in celebration of the day that Abraham slaughtered a sheep in the place of his son Isaac. So instead of going out to look for a tree, families who have enough money pick out a nice sheep (they cost about $200), load him into their car, and keep him in the garage or roof until the big day. Then one of the men slits his throat (in the street, in the bathroom, wherever there is room), and the women set about removing the organs. We fortunately did not get to participate in this ritual, though we ate quite a bit of liver wrapped in fat and grilled on skewers, which is the specialty on the first day.

The celebration and meat-eating continue for several days, though Molly and I decided to get out of town and visit her American friend Eric in Meknes. It is only a couple hours away by train and was our first journey outside of Rabat. It was a pleasant, relaxed weekend, except for the part where I was throwing up. I had a bad reaction to the tap water there, and I made the mistake of drinking it twice. So I spent a number or dark, cold hours in the bathroom, vowing to get out of this country as soon as possible. However, once feeling better, I was more optimistic, though if I continue to have stomach problems on a regular basis, I may not be able to handle 2 years here.

We returned on Sunday and on Christmas Eve, we went to visit Nazha for the long awaited lesson in making couscous (the real way, not the way that we Americans boil it in water for 5 minutes). It is about a 3 hour process so we had to show up at 9:30am to get started. We finally ate at about 1:30 and of course it was delicious. I then helped them put together the gingerbread house that my mom had sent. The maid Fatna thought we were nuts at first, but I think she enjoyed the final product, as did everyone else. Unlike my previous gingerbread experiences, the house was devoured minutes after we completed it. I added photos of this, as well as the sheep stuff (not for the squeamish), to my online album.

On Christmas day, we were actually back to work, though this is the final week of the session so it has been pretty laid back. After class, Molly and I went looking for a nice place to eat, and I will admit to being skeptical that we would find one. Luckily, with the help of a Moroccan co-worker, we found a wonderful, chic, modern restaurant that was fancy but not over our budget. It was the closest thing to a California venue I have found here, and they had a fantatic flamenco band who played some Gypsy Kings favorites. I had salmon for the first time since I've been here, and a yummy nougat glace for dessert. I could not have asked for a nicer Christmas dinner.